Carlton Claim Fifth CricketMedia Scotland Sixes Title

12 Mar

Carlton Claim Fifth CricketMedia Scotland Sixes Title

Fraser Watts and Stevie Gilmour starred with the bat for Carlton as they win the CricketMedia Scotland Sixes for the fifth time, beating the Eastern Knights U18 squad by 7 runs in an entertaining final.

The in-form Eastern Knights U18 team, carried on their impressive run in this year’s tournament with a two wicket win over Edinburgh University in the first semi-final of the evening to book their place in the final.

Edinburgh University, who were also fielding a team in the BritishUniversities and Colleges indoor championships the same night, chose to bat after winning the toss.

Uncharacteristic running and excellent fielding from Fraser Gosse, Ben Wilkinson and Haris Aslam saw the top three university batsmen dismissed for only 16 runs.

Michael Miller then missed a sharp chance off his own bowling to dismiss Ally Love, and was immediately punished as Love smashed a 6 off the next ball.

The 44-run partnership between Love and Ally Price took the score to 60 before the former was trapped in-front - lbw by Aslam.

EdinburghUniversity added another 19 runs before the last wicket fell - Price skying a catch to Aslam at mid on off the bowling of Michael Miller for 29.

Chasing 80 to reach the final, Edinburgh University made an early breakthrough in the second over, a leading edge from Miller caught by Sherwin off the bowling of Dunkin.

New batsman, Matthew Angelini, and opener, Ben Wilkinson, rotated the strike well, hitting the occasional bad ball to the boundary and taking the team passed 50. Wilkinson was then run out for 13, as he ran the long route to avoid a collision with his partner.

More confusion in the middle saw Fraser Gosse make a brief appearance, adding only 1 to the score.

Angelini top scored for the Knights with 28*, but it was Aslam who smashed 11 runs in 4 balls to see the Knights into the final.

Despite an unbeaten 33 from Andrew Brock and 30 from Gregor Maiden, Carlton strolled into the final with a 49-run win over city-rivals Grange.

Having won the toss and choosing to bat, Carlton got off to a shaky start as Kyle Macpherson was run out in the first over. Fraser Watts, Craig Everett and Stevie Gilmour all retired with scores over 25, as the scored raced to 93-1 after 6 overs.

Grange fought back well in the field, claiming the remaining four wickets for only 36 runs. A smart run out of Chayank Gosain sparked a Carlton collapse, and catches by Cameron Sloman and Ryan Flannigan dismissed Watts (38) and Everett (27).

A direct hit from Flannigan brought Carlton's innings to a close, as Rob Thornton was run out with the total on 135.

An excellent diving catch from Gilmour behind the stumps sent Flannigan back to the balcony as Carlton claimed an early wicket.

Andrew Brock and Gregor Maiden batted superbly to reach 25 and retired within a couple balls of each other, which brought two new batsmen in, Sloman and Arun Pillai. With the score on 68-1, the match was finely poised after 5 overs.

However, only seven runs later, Sloman, and new batsman, Nick Peet, were run out in successive balls, but this brought back the in-form Brock to the crease. Grange then lost their fourth wicket as Pillai was out stumped after a little juggling by Gilmour behind the stumps.

Grange slumped to 86 all out as Gregor Maiden was trapped lbw, which set up an exciting final between Carlton and the Eastern Knights U18 squad.

In the final, Carlton again won the toss and chose to bat. The Eastern Knights started brilliantly as they dismissed Macpherson (0) and Everett (3), restricting their opponents to 13-2 in the first over.

Watts and Gilmour again showed their experience and efficiently rotated the strike as they surpassed 50 runs in only 4 overs.

Carlton scored quickly, with Watts (38), Gilmour (34) and Thornton (32*), all retiring in the innings as the Eastern Knights were set a target of 131 to win.

The young Knights squad made a great start to the chase with 15 runs coming off the first over, but were restrained to 27 after economical over’s from Watts and Gosain.

Although expensive, Macpherson made the breakthrough in the fourth over as Wilkinson (17) was stumped by Gilmour with the score on 42.

Michael Miller (31) retired at the end of the 5th over and bringing Gosse in and keen to get off the mark, poor running between the pair resulted in Angelini's wicket for 7.

With four overs remaining, the Knights required 62 to win. Gosse (21*) and Duncan Player (21) made good progress but more sloppy running cost Player his wicket with the score on 96-3.

The Knights kept just within reach of the game, needing 19 runs off the last over. Thornton took a spectacular return catch to dismiss the hard-hitting Aslam and then bowled Miller off the final ball to seal victory for Carlton by 7 runs.

It is the fifth time that the Grange Loan side has won this trophy in its 11-year history.